scanning/printing photos, please help

[abacoian]

Hello, I just got a photo quality printer, I want to print photos at the best quality.

The questions I have are: I scan my photos at 300dpi, what I'm unsure of is what should I size my images to for best prints. If I want to print a 8x10 photoshop lets me choose to fit the photo to my paper size. But does it matter how many pixels width x height I set it too? The first pic I printed it was 1200 wide. What if I set it to 800 wide? Would the print be any better or worse?

Also, I have a digital camera picture 450x382, I previewd how it would print in photoshop on a 8x10 and it didn't look stretched or blurred at all. Would it be a normal looking print?

Are there any standard sizes that you could give me for sizing my photos for specific print sizes, say 8x10, 5x7, 4x6?

Please help!

Thank you

 

[randy]

if you have a photo quality printer and scanner, i think it wouldn't matter what resolution or size you print your pics at.

 

[abacoian]

is 300 a good dpi to scan at, or would you reccomend higher?

 

[microsoftne]

i would recommend scanning higher, but it will definately increase scanning time.

 

[abacoian]

what dpi do you reccomend? and then after it's scanned how many pixels wide would you reccomend I size it to?

Thank you

 

[abacoian]

you mean scan @600dpi and size it to 800 pixels wide right?

 

[abacoian]

thank you for your help

I was also wondering if there was anything special you did to the scans like certain levels or brightness techniqes?